The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has released a report of antibiotic resistant "superbugs" that are deemed untreatable, ranking the infections as urgent, serious and concerning.
According to the CDC, 23,000 people will die every year due to "superbug" infections. The report, Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013, gives an in-depth look into the impact these infections can have on human health.
"Antibiotic resistance is rising for many different pathogens that are threats to health," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., in a news release. "If we don't act now, our medicine cabinet will be empty and we won't have the antibiotics we need to save lives."
The "superbugs" listed in the report were associated with seven factors that make the infection anti-biotic resistant: "health impact, economic impact, how common the infection is, a 10-year projection of how common it could become, how easily it spreads, availability of effective antibiotics, and barriers to prevention."
"Every time antibiotics are used in any setting, bacteria evolve by developing resistance. This process can happen with alarming speed," said Steve Solomon, M.D., director of CDC's Office of Antimicrobial Resistance. "These drugs are a precious, limited resource-the more we use antibiotics today, the less likely we are to have effective antibiotics tomorrow."
Some of the infections classified as urgent included a drug-resistant gonorrhea and diarrheal infection Clostridium difficile. According to the CDC's news release, diarrheal infection leads to "about 250,000 hospitalizations and at least 14,000 deaths every year in the United States."
The CDC has released a list of "four core actions critical to halting resistance" along with their report:
Preventing Infections, Preventing the Spread of Resistance: "Avoiding infections reduces the amount of antibiotics that have to be used and reduces the likelihood that resistance will develop. Drug-resistant infections can be prevented by immunization, infection prevention actions in healthcare settings, safe food preparation and handling, and general hand washing."
Tracking: "CDC gathers data on antibiotic-resistant infections, causes of infections, and whether there are particular reasons (risk factors) that cause some people to get a resistant infection. With that information, experts can develop strategies to prevent those infections and prevent the resistant bacteria from spreading."
Improving Antibiotic Use/Stewardship: "Perhaps the most important action needed to greatly slow the development and spread of antibiotic-resistant infections is to change the way antibiotics are used. Up to half of antibiotic use in humans and much of antibiotic use in animals is unnecessary. The commitment to always use antibiotics appropriately and safely -only when they are needed to treat disease - and to choose the right antibiotics and to administer them in the right way in every case is known as antibiotic stewardship."
Developing Drugs and Diagnostic Tests: "Because antibiotic resistance occurs as part of a natural process in which bacteria evolve, it can be slowed but not completely stopped. Therefore, new antibiotics always will be needed to keep up with resistant bacteria, as will new tests to track the development of resistance."
You can find the full CDC "superbug" report here. If you have more questions about how to prevent the potentially deadly infections, check out the CDC's official website here.
